NEWS FROM THE UAE
SOURCE : THE NATIONAL
Nine rescued from apartment fire
Firefighters took more than an hour to rescue those trapped on the upper floors of an apartment building in Khalidiya. Rich-Joseph Facun / The National
ABU DHABI - MARCH 23: Nine people were rescued by firemen using an aerial ladder after being trapped by fire at an apartment building in Khalidiya yesterday.
One of the rescued, six-months pregnant Lisa Sanchez, 27, was treated in hospital.
First aid was performed on the others at the scene, though none was burnt, a Civil Defence spokesman said.
The fire broke out at about midday. Smoke billowed out of a room on the sixth floor as family and friends waited anxiously on the street below.
Those trapped could be seen in windows and peering over balconies.
The cause of the fire was unknown last night as authorities waited for the results of a forensic investigation.
It took firemen more than an hour to rescue people trapped on the upper floors of the building.
The watchman and other residents banged on doors to alert others. The residents – mostly from the Philippines and India – said it was the third fire in the building since last summer.
“We’re going to have to move,” said Emma Pring, 33. “How many times? It’s a very unlucky building.”
Mendel Jaime, 32, was one of the crowd waiting on the ground. His sister, Annette, 28, was on the ninth floor, having arrived in the capital just a week ago.
She was among several residents seeking alternative accommodation after they had still not been allowed back to their apartments early tonight.
The landlord Ahmed al Qubaisi said there were 33 flats in the building, many of which had multiple occupants.
Dubai threatens to expel betel spitters
DUBAI - MARCH 23: The municipality is considering deporting people who chew betel leaves.
It said yesterday that it was working with immigration authorities on a law under which people caught preparing or using betel – traditional in some Asian communities – could lose their residence rights.
Betel is generally sold as paan, the Hindi term for a mixture – the precise ingredients can vary – wrapped in a betel leaf, and generally chewed after meals as a mouth-freshener. What bothers the authorities is the habit of spitting out the red juice and staining the pavement, a common practice in such areas as Bur Dubai, Deira and Al Karama.
The announcement was made by Hussain Nasser Lootah, the director general of Dubai Municipality, at the launch of an environmental drive in Bur Dubai. The purpose of the month-long campaign, which follows a similar drive in Naif last year, is to root out “unhealthy practices” and clean up the busier, more heavily populated areas of the city.
Last year the municipality announced that spitting betel juice would incur a fine of Dh500. However, Mr Lootah said offenders could soon be deported.
Already, 12 people have been deported for preparing and selling paan, and seven outlets had been closed.
“Paan has been one of the main hindrances we face in keeping the streets clean and we are taking all measures to stop its sale and use here,” he said. “Deportation is a crucial step we are taking to discourage use of paan.”
Despite its sale being illegal in Dubai, paan is widely available in cafeterias and shops in Karama, Deira, Bur Dubai and other areas, and the municipality is offering rewards of up to Dh5,000 to people who report the sale or preparation of betel products.
On the clean-up drive in the Al Fahidi area, Mr Lootah said: “We decided to continue the campaign after its success in Naif. The idea is to explain to the people living in the centre of the city about the importance of keeping the environment neat and clean.”
Residents would be asked through roadshows and outdoor advertisements not to drop dirt, cigarette ends and other waste on the street, and to stop spitting in public places.
The municipality also announced a fine of Dh500 for littering on the streets of Dubai.
The campaign organisers would also look at ways of discouraging the practice of hanging clothes on balconies, which spoilt the look of the city, Mr Lootah said.
Other parts of Dubai listed for similar campaigns include Al Ghubaibah, Al Sabkha, Al Karama, Al Qusais and Al Qouz.
Emergency drills part of Metro countdown
DUBAI - MARCH 23: Emergency vehicles racing towards Metro stations with sirens blazing could soon become a familiar sight on Sheikh Zayed Road.
But there is no need for alarm. Regular emergency response drills will be carried out as the countdown to the September 9 opening of the main Red Line begins.
The drills, incorporating simulated accidents, will be a vital part of the preparations, a senior project manager said.
“We are now in the critical phase of the opening and we have passed the 180-days mark,” said Paul Anderson, project director at Serco, the Metro’s operating company.
“The ramp-up has started but for the last 12 months we have been doing this. Now we are into the mass volume of recruitment and mobilising people.”
Serco has trained most of the staff, who in turn will train new personnel in the coming months.
“We are well advanced on that now and over the next few months, people will see a lot more activity around the lines and the stations,” Mr Anderson said.
Serco will work closely with the police and Dubai Civil Defence during final preparations.
“We will be doing a lot of drills and training,” said Mr Anderson. “We will develop our relationships with the emergency services and develop a framework on the training and drilling.
“We will be simulating worst-case events that can happen on any Metro line in the world. It will intensify in particular between the months of June, July and August and there will be a lot of visible activity.”
The rolling stock has been seen on the Red Line over the past few weeks. “We will see a lot more of it from now until the opening of the line,” he added.
Meanwhile, a spokesman for the Roads and Transport Authority said the Metro stations would not provide long-term parking.
“The whole idea is to get the bus to the station and then another bus at your destination. Everybody will have a bus stop within 500 metres [of their homes],” said Paymen Younes Parham, director of the marketing and corporate communications department at the RTA.
The authority intends to add an extra 700 buses to its 1,300 fleet to entice people to use the Metro.
Yesterday the RTA awarded the Metro’s marketing tender to Saatchi & Saatchi, the international agency.
Ramadan Abdulla Mohammed, director of the operations department at the RTA Rail Agency, said: “The importance of the marketing campaign stems from its role in unveiling and showcasing Dubai Metro Project. The project is capable of transforming the behavioural pattern, lifestyle and thoughts of many people in Dubai.
"However, to materialise this transition, intensive marketing and awareness campaigns have to be launched.”
The campaign, My Metro, is part of the RTA strategy to get 17 per cent of the city’s residents using the Red and Green lines by 2020. The Green Line is expected to open in March next year.
Mr Parham said the Metro would be capable of carrying 23,000 passengers every hour; such a load would require 12 lanes if transported by road.
The marketing campaign will run for a year and be split into three phases. The first will focus on the launch timings and the campaign message; phase two will give all the information related to the Metro operation, including fares, public services and station services.
“Phase three is the preparatory phase that sets the stage for the launch day on 09/09/09,” Mr Parham said.
“The campaign covers all media, promotional and marketing outlets of this pioneer project. Examples of these include television stations, radio channels, newspapers and magazines, directional signboards on roads, bridges and tunnels across the GCC. It will be delivered in several languages to address all community segments.”
However, he said the key objective of the campaign was simply to get everybody in the city to use the Metro and there was no specific audience. “People will read more, listen to more music when they use the Metro.”
The RTA hopes the Dubai Metro will join several other internationally recognised images of the city, including the Burj Al Arab, Burj Dubai, the Palm Jumeirah, and The World development.
The Dh15.5 billion (US$4.2bn) driverless railway is on target for its September 9 opening.
The 52km viaduct, which stretches the length of Sheikh Zayed Road between Al Rashidiya and Jebel Ali, is expected to run 42 trains every hour, stopping at 29 stations including Burj Dubai, internet City and Jebel Ali among other places.
Crops may be watered by sewage
Abu Dhabi - MARCH 23: Treated sewage effluent could be used to irrigate crops in Abu Dhabi for the first time as the Government tackles the emirate’s water shortage. At the same time, more water-saving devices are to be fitted in public buildings and homes.
Details of the plan emerged yesterday during the announcement of education programmes to be run by the Abu Dhabi-based Arab Water Academy, established last year.
The use of treated sewage in agriculture is common practice globally, especially in arid zones, but until now the UAE has relied on groundwater and, to a lesser extent, desalination.
Now, however, the Government is concerned that underground water supplies are fast running out. On Saturday the Environment Agency-Abu Dhabi (EAD) outlined its fear that if water continues to be used at present levels, aquifers – natural underground reservoirs – will be depleted within 50 years. Much of these supplies are of brackish water; sweet water could be gone in as little as 20 years.
Speaking yesterday on the sidelines of a presentation of the academy’s plans, Majid al Mansouri, secretary general of the EAD, said a steering committee had been set up to implement the recommendations of a master plan to address Abu Dhabi’s water needs until 2030. One of the issues it would address was expanding the use of treated sewage effluent, currently used only for watering public gardens, to introduce it for agricultural use – a move previously resisted because of what one official described as “cultural sensitivities”.
“We are working to develop regulations,” said Mr Mansouri. “This water will have advanced treatment to achieve bottled-water quality.” A draft was expected in two to three months and a pilot project was expected to begin on 200 farms near Al Ain within nine to 10 months.
Currently, such water is treated to a lower standard and is either used to irrigate public gardens or discharged into the sea. Under the new plans, reverse-osmosis filtration technology will be used to remove solid particles and ultraviolet purification will kill harmful microorganisms.
Under a second strand of the water conservation plans that emerged yesterday, public buildings and private homes would be fitted with a variety of water-saving devices, paid for by the Government. This project has been put out to tender. Work is expected to begin in two months and take two years to complete.
Experts believe that, depending on the type and use of the building, savings could range from 20 to 40 per cent.
Abu Dhabi relies on six large desalination plants and more than 10 smaller units, in oil industry compounds and remote settlements, to supply its potable water. That capacity, said Mr Mansouri, would have to be doubled by 2030 if no savings were made.
“We are working on two parallel lines,” he said. The savings made through water demand management would affect decisions regarding investment in new desalination capacity.
Yesterday’s gathering in Abu Dhabi of water experts, diplomats and high-ranking government officials was told that starting the reforms necessary to avert a water-shortage crisis in the region would first require a change in the mindset of decision-makers.
The Arab Water Academy, initiated by the Cairo-based Arab Water Council, is hosted by the EAD in partnership with the Dubai-based International Centre for Biosaline Agriculture.
It supporters hope it will act as an agent of change in the way water resources are managed. Yesterday, World Water Day, the academy unveiled its first four programmes, which will begin in June with the first, “Water diplomacy and water sharing”, an issue of particular relevance in a region where about 70 per cent of the water is shared in rivers, aquifers or seas.
The GCC countries, for example, shared water from two vast underground formations, known to scientists as Dammam and Um ar Radhuma, said Dr Mohammed Raouf, manager of the environment programme at the Gulf Research Centre.
At present, he said, there is little co-ordination between the involved states, which could lead to conflict as water becomes more scarce in future. Subsequent programmes will focus on water governance, the implementation of utility reform and what experts call “unconventional water” – supplies that have been obtained through desalination and the treatment of sewage effluent.
The training programme targets senior decision-makers, including ministers, directors-general, CEOs of large companies and heads of academic institutions and non-government organisations, as well as middle-management employees.
Yesterday, Mohammed Ahmad al Bowardi, secretary general of the Abu Dhabi Executive Council and managing director of EAD, reiterated the need for decisive action.
It is expected that climate change will make Gulf summers hotter and lead to a decrease in the amount of rain.
“By 2050, per capita water availability is expected to fall by half,” he said. “This will have serious consequences for our region’s already stressed aquifers and natural hydrological systems.
“The question we must ask ourselves is this: are countries in the Arab region able to adapt their current water management practices and meet the challenges? If the answer is no, then drinking water services will become more erratic and cities will come to rely more and more on expensive desalination.”